A Doll’s House Written by Henrik Ibsen - Play Review

A Doll's House

The title of the play, A Doll’s House written by Henrik Ibsen holds a significant meaning to the theme of the play. The theme lies in Nora Helmer’s realization that her husband puts himself and his reputation before her needs. Therefore, she sacrifices her “doll-like” life to reclaim her dignity and self-worth. Ibsen sets the stage for stimulating the reader’s imagination in the play by explaining in detail, the setting for his play in which he describes as “furnished comfortably and tastefully, but not extravagantly” (Ibsen, 2011, Act I, pp 792-793). He also elaborates on the detail of the room by adding in some of its furnished features such as describing the halls, mentioning a piano in the room, and describing the tables and chairs. Ibsen shows characterization and motivation in his characters such as Nora when she says to Torvold, “Now play for me! I am going to dance,” which describes her motivation (Ibsen, 2011, Act 2, p 825). He shows elaborate characterization for Nora when he describes her dancing, flailing her tambourine, and swinging around while laughing.

In the rising action toward the climax, the conflict arises when Nora’s husband, Torvald takes a position as a bank manager and prepares to terminate Nils Krogstad (lawyer and loan shark) only to replace him with Mrs. Linde (Nora’s friend). The conflict comes to a head when Mr. Krogstad attempts to blackmail Nora by informing her husband that she had taken out a loan without his consent and forged her father’s signature on the official loan papers.

Mrs. Helmer is the protagonist throughout this story because she is a naïve woman whom did not believe that Mr. Krogstad would hold true to his word of providing her husband with information regarding the loan she took out. This is why Nils Krogstad is labeled the antagonist throughout the play because he indulges in his loan-shark ways by divulging Mrs. Helmer’s unlawful act by writing a letter to her husband. Although Henrik Ibsen did not incorporate irony or symbolism in his play, he did foreshadow the outcome of it by having Mr. Krogstad write the letter and place it in Nora and Torvold’s mailbox. It foreshadows that Mr. Helmer will receive the letter before Nora can retrieve it. Thus, it leaves Nora trying to preoccupy her husband to keep him away from the box. However, Mr. Ibsen does reach the climax in his story by disclosing the loan and fraud information to